In the apocalypse, I hoarded goods and handed over my storage space to the government.

Northwest, the ruins of a fallen city.

The roar of artillery fire filled the air.

Ye Xiao sat imposingly on the hood of a Type 99A main battle tank, the rag he used to wipe his knife stained black and red.

Behind him, the steel torrent relentlessly advanced, and beneath its tracks, the struggling mutated creatures instantly turned into mincemeat.

Even after being repeatedly ravaged by rocket artillery, countless dark shadows still writhed in the shadows deep within the city before his eyes.

How many have been killed in the last few days?

I can't remember exactly, but I just started slashing with my knife and killing any corpse I saw.

The number of first-order crystal nuclei absorbed was at least eighty, if not one hundred.

Ye Xiao's internal energy was like boiling water, surging endlessly, but it was always suppressed by an invisible membrane, unable to go any further.

After reading through the "Awakener's Handbook" distributed by Su Ran, I realized that this feeling was indeed a precursor to advancement.

"Is this the bottleneck?"

Ye Xiao frowned and muttered to himself, "This feeling is awful, so close to the finish line!"

So close!

"Attention all units! Vanguard troops, prepare to storm Sector A3 and eliminate any remaining targets!"

The instructions came through the command channel, cold and clear.

"Commander Ye, all troops prepare for assault! Get ready for battle!"

"receive!"

Ye Xiao's spirits lifted, and he leaped down from the nearly three-meter-high tank, his twin swords twirling beautifully in the air.

"Get to work, get to work!"

He twisted his neck and then suddenly exerted force with his legs.

"kill!"

He shot into the ruins like an arrow released from a bow.

boom!

He transformed into a dark red whirlwind, tearing a path through the horde of corpses rising from the gunfire.

With twin swords in hand, scorching flames clung to the blades, creating a crackling sound as they sliced ​​through the air.

Wherever it went, whether zombies or mutated beasts, they were all easily dismembered.

Just as he was getting into the heat of the killing, an indescribable and intense sense of crisis made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end!

Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Xiao, relying on his fighting instincts, suddenly shifted to the left.

"BOOM!!"

Almost a fraction of a second after he dodged, a black shadow larger than a tank, accompanied by a foul stench, lunged out from behind a collapsed building and slammed heavily into the spot where he had just been standing.

The cement floor was cracked like a spider web, with gravel flying everywhere!

A mutated grizzly bear, far larger than its kind, standing over four meters tall, with tangled, hard fur all over its body, as stiff as steel needles.

His bloodshot eyes were filled with bloodthirsty savagery.

Strangely, there was no trace of being burned by artillery fire on its body.

The surrounding tanks and infantry fighting vehicles immediately turned their guns and locked onto the target.

"Don't fire!"

Ye Xiao roared into the communication channel, his eyes fixed on the giant bear, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Oh?"

Instead of showing fear, Ye Xiao's eyes blazed with a morbid excitement.

"To escape unscathed even after being bombarded by artillery shells? That's incredibly lucky!"

He licked his chapped lips and said viciously, "Killing you, your crystal core should bring me good luck, right?"

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Xiao suddenly leaped up.

He lowered his body, crossed his two swords in front of him, and slashed at the grizzly bear's neck at a tricky angle.

This strike is enough to cut through the side armor of an infantry fighting vehicle!

however,

"clang!!"

A deafening clang of metal clashing against metal made people's eardrums ache.

Ye Xiao felt as if he had struck a solid steel ingot. A terrifying recoil force came from the hilt of the knife, and his hand instantly split open.

His twin blades, capable of cutting through steel, were stubbornly blocked by the grizzly bear's fur, which was as tough as steel.

Only two deep, bone-revealing, but not fatal, bloodstains remained.

not good!

Ye Xiao's pupils contracted sharply.

The mutated grizzly bear was enraged.

"roar!"

The giant hand slammed down with a whooshing sound that tore through the air.

Ye Xiao only had time to hold his twin swords horizontally in front of his chest to block.

boom!

An irresistible force came, like being struck head-on by a battering ram traveling at full speed.

Ye Xiao was sent flying backwards like a kite with a broken string, flying more than ten meters before crashing into a crumbling wall.

"puff!"

A sweet taste rose in his throat, and a mouthful of blood gushed out.

"Damn...cough cough...that's freaking fierce!"

Ye Xiao struggled to his feet from the pile of bricks and stones, feeling as if his sternum was about to crack. The tiger's mouth of his hands, which were gripping the knife, was completely torn open and covered in blood.

"This power...this defense...it doesn't look like a first-tier mutated beast at all."

Not first order...

That's second order.

Instead of being afraid, Ye Xiao laughed out loud.

"roar!"

The mutated grizzly bear gave him no time to catch his breath, roaring as it charged again, its massive body causing the earth to tremble.

"I don't care if you're first-order or second-order!"

Ye Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes fierce. "Today I'm going to kill you! I'll use your crystal core as a stepping stone for my advancement!"

boom!

With his fire-based supernatural power pushed to its limit, dark red flames instantly surged three feet high on his twin blades, resembling solidified magma.

Ye Xiao stopped fighting head-on and his movements became erratic.

He used his speed advantage, which far exceeded that of his opponent, to roam around the grizzly bear at high speed.

The twin blades transformed into two deadly red streaks, relentlessly slashing at his theoretically weak points such as joints, eyes, and mouth and nose.

clang!clang!clang!

A thrilling and deadly battle ensued between a human and a bear amidst the ruins.

The surrounding soldiers watched with trepidation, aiming their guns, wanting to provide support but afraid of hurting their comrades.

"Don't come any closer! Just keep an eye on them!"

Ye Xiao roared, "This is my prey! I'm going to kill him with my own hands!"

After a thrilling dodge, Ye Xiao caught the moment the grizzly bear froze as it turned to pounce but missed.

His eyes flashed with a sharp light, and with a sudden flick of his wrist, the long sword in his left hand transformed into a streak of light, piercing straight into the grizzly bear's huge left eye socket!

"roar!"

The mutated grizzly bear, in pain, let out a deafening roar and wildly swung its enormous paws.

It's now!

Instead of retreating, Ye Xiao advanced, crouching low and sliding forward, like a ghost rushing to his abdomen.

He channeled all his strength into his right arm, and with his remaining longsword, he plunged it from bottom to top into the grizzly bear's relatively soft abdomen!

"Die, you son of a bitch!"

Ye Xiao's facial muscles contorted, looking like a madman.

He held the knife in one hand, and his entire body's fire-based supernatural power poured into the blade without reservation!

puff!

The blade churned inside the grizzly bear, drawing out a large amount of scalding entrails and blood.

The grizzly bear struggled more and more violently, but Ye Xiao refused to let go, his entire body like a deadly accessory hanging on the giant beast.

He reached out with his left hand and grabbed at the air, causing the long sword stuck in the bear's eye to fly back into his hand.

Twin swords in hand!

Ye Xiao braced his legs firmly against the ground, exerted force from his waist and abdomen, and bulged his arm muscles. With two long swords burning with flames, he used all his strength to slash fiercely at the grizzly bear's neck in a perfect cross shape!

Cross Slash!

"Snap!"

A sickening sound of bones shattering could still be clearly heard amidst the deafening gunfire.

A huge bear head shot into the sky.

The massive body lurched forward a few more steps due to inertia before crashing to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Ye Xiao plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, covered in blood, it was hard to tell if it was his own or the bear's.

Cool!

Transparent!

He didn't bother to check his injuries, staggered to the bear carcass, and roughly slit open the huge head with his knife.

Ding-dong.

A dark red crystal core, larger than any he had ever seen before and the color of deep, solidified lava, rolled out.

"It's a whole size bigger, so it should definitely be a second-tier one."

Ye Xiao played with the still warm crystal core, feeling the surging power within it.

"But……"

His expression turned extremely serious. "Didn't Brother Su say that second-tier creatures wouldn't appear until a week after the Red Rain?"

He looked at the date on his tactical watch.

"And this is only the fourth day!"

Ye Xiao gripped the crystal core tightly, muttering to himself, "Did Brother Su remember it wrong... Never mind, I'd better report it quickly."

He felt that this discovery might be even more significant than the crystal core itself.

In Ye Xiao's memory, Su Ran was a prophet who led the Great Xia forward with a script.

But now,

The script for the future seems to have changed!

Ye Xiao tapped the tactical terminal on his wrist and connected to the encrypted channel of the rear command post.

"Calling command! Frontline scout Ye Xiao has an urgent military report!"

His voice was hoarse from exhaustion and excitement.

"This is the A3 Sector Command Post. Vanguard Ye Xiao, please report!"

Ye Xiaodao reported, "Coordinates: A3 Industrial Park. A Tier 2 mutated creature has been detected and killed! (Repeated: The existence of a Tier 2 mutated creature has been confirmed!)"

"Please immediately report this intelligence, along with the physical evidence, to Kunlun headquarters and forward it to Advisor Su Ran!"

……

Li Guodong stared at the conclusion in Wang Meng's assessment report that "he will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair."

"Bang!"

He slammed his fist on the control panel, making a dull thud.

"Contact the General Logistics Department! Spare no expense! Get me the best specialists and the best medicine! He must be cured!"

Li Guodong's voice was hoarse, carrying an unquestionable command.

Wang Meng was not originally a soldier, but a national athlete. He was transferred to Kunlun as a special talent and then underwent special training to reach the front line. Now, due to injury, he has ended up like this.

Every speck of dust in the era, when it falls on an individual's shoulder, becomes a mountain.

"Old Li, calm down."

Su Ran was also feeling bad, her gaze still fixed on the dark screen, as if she were looking at Wang Meng's shattered future.

"Conventional medical care can only save his life, not his future."

Su Ran turned to look at Li Guodong, "The only hope lies in Academician Chen Changhe's 'gene awakening agent.' Once he recovers, let him go to the research institute to help out, even if it's just serving tea and water, so he has something to strive for."

Su Ran sighed silently in her heart.

Fate is a fucking bastard.

In his previous life, Wang Meng awakened an S-class superpower that allowed him to command a herd of beasts during a near-death experience. He was codenamed "Beast King" and was a pillar of humanity.

Unexpectedly, in this life, with better equipment and more confidence, he crashed into the wall called "fate" and died prematurely.

The butterfly's wings deflected the hero's path.

"Pack up all the combat recordings and physiological data of those fifteen newly awakened individuals from the seventy-two hours prior to their awakening."

Su Ran turned to the technicians and gave them instructions: "Send this to the data analysis center and have them analyze whether there are any other commonalities besides 'life-or-death pressure'!"

The lack of awakened beings made him feel as if a sword of Damocles was hanging over his head.

Su Ran turned to Li Guodong and a group of senior generals, her voice cold and resolute.

"Since casting a wide net isn't working, let's focus on 'precision training'! Concentrate all resources on training these thirty-six who have already awakened. My plan is to help them advance to the second-tier awakened level in the shortest possible time!"

In the command room, the generals straightened their backs.

"I agree."

Li Guodong took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his emotions.

"agree."

I second that.

The war continues; they have no time for grief.

"How's the crystal core reserve situation?" Su Ran cut to the core.

The technician in charge of statistics worked quickly, projecting a huge bar chart onto the central screen.

For a moment, everyone in the command center held their breath.

"Reporting to Advisor Su!"

The technician's voice rose eight octaves as he announced loudly, "As of now, the 'Great Cleanup' operation has resulted in the seizure of a total of 1,523,600 crystal cores of various types across the twelve war zones nationwide!"

boom!

This number exploded like a mental nuclear bomb in the minds of everyone in the command room!

"How many?!"

Li Guodong suddenly jumped up from his chair, unable to believe his ears.

He has focused his main energy on the allocation of personnel and resources these past few days, and has not paid any attention to the collection of crystal cores.

Unexpectedly, he was given such a big surprise right from the start!

"One million five hundred and twenty thousand!"

"My God... how many electromagnetic guns could that make?"

"So many! Enough to expand our crystal core weapon production line fivefold!"

The staff officers and officers around him were all flushed and excited!

This is three days!

The victory was painstakingly carved out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood by the blood and fire of tens of millions of soldiers!

A smile finally appeared in Su Ran's eyes, and she waved her hand.

"Order the logistics department to immediately select the crystal cores with the strongest energy fluctuations and the highest quality from the inventory according to the attributes of the thirty-six Awakeners, seal them separately, and record them under the 'Awakener Headquarters' account."

"The seven-day cleanup mission is over. I will distribute resources for the first time based on the leaderboard rankings. I want everyone to see that as long as you're willing to fight hard, the nation will reward you with everything it has!"

He paused, his tone turning cold, "At the same time, notify the compensation department to initiate the highest level of preferential treatment for martyrs for the families of comrades Zhang Yuan, Liu Sisi, and Chen Mo. The members of the Awakeners Headquarters cannot have sacrificed their lives in vain."

One reward, one penalty, and one compensation.

Using both carrots and sticks, combining kindness and severity.

"yes!"

Just as everyone was preparing to further discuss the details of crystal core conversion and weapon mass production, a communications officer suddenly stood up, his face grave.

"Report!"

He strode up to Su Ran, stood at attention, and saluted.

"Advisor Su! A top-secret, high-level military intelligence report has arrived from the front lines! It's from Ye Xiao!"

"He specified that this battle report must be reviewed by you personally!"

"Ye Xiao?"

Su Ran was stunned upon hearing this, and then her heart sank.

Unless it's a very important relationship, Ye Xiao would never contact me in this way.

He took the small encrypted data disk, and an ominous premonition crept into his heart.

Insert the data disk into the console.

The holographic screen flickered.

The first thing that pops up is a short battle report.

[Location: A3 Industrial Park. A second-tier mutated creature has been detected and eliminated.]

[Evidence Zip]

Everyone's hearts sank.

Second order!

Su Ran's face instantly turned extremely ugly under the blue light of the screen.

"It's only the fourth day..."

He muttered to himself, his voice so low that only he could hear it, "It's true what they say, good fortune never comes in pairs, and misfortunes never come singly."